Work Motivation
What is Work Motivation?
Key area of organizational psychology:
– Helps to understand many forms of behaviors and attitudes
– Which enhances our ability to predict these behaviors and attitudes
– And understanding the motive behind the attitudes and behaviors is the first step towards
influencing them
Content vs. Process Approaches
Maslow’s Need Hierarchy
Self-Actualization
Esteem Needs
Love & Belongingness
Safety & Security
Physiological Needs
Alderfer’s ERG Theory
Growth Needs
Relatedness Needs
Existence Needs
Frustration-regression dimension:
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Work Motivation
Goal-Setting Theory (for more details refer to chp 8)
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Difficult, specific goals lead to better performance
Goal acceptance and commitment influence performance
Feedback about progress positively affects performance
Vroom’s Expectancy (VIE) Theory (for more details refer to chp 9)
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We choose to engage in the activity that has the strongest motivating force
How do we define this force ?
Expectancies (Efficacy Expectany): effort-performance relationship
Instrumentality (Outcome Expectancy): performance-reward relationship
Valence: rewards-personal goals relationship
Herzberg’s Two-Factor Theory
Dissatisfiers or Hygiene factors (Extrinsic)
Satisfiers or Motivator factors (Intrinsic)
Equity Theory - Adam (1963, 1968)
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Process theory that focuses on the employee’s perceptions of the fairness of their work input
and outcomes
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4 necessary components
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My input to outcome ratio should be comparable to your input to outcome ratio
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For an extrinsic reward to be satisfying there has to be equity
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Work Motivation
Equity Theory Perceptions
Equity Theory
Restoration of Equity: when inequity is felt, people get motivated…
– Change their inputs or outcomes
– Change the referents’ input or outcomes
– Change their perceptions of inputs & outcomes
– Change the referent
– Leave the job or organization or may force the referent to leave
The Hackman-Oldham Approach
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Attempts to specify the objective characteristics of jobs that create conditions for internal
work motivation
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Individuals will be internally motivated to perform well when they experience “critical
psychological states”
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Five core job characteristic are viewed as pivotal in creating these conditions
Job “Core” Characteristics
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Skill Variety
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Task Identity
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Work Motivation
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Task Significance
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Autonomy
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Feedback
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Critical Psychological States
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Experience work as meaningful
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Experience personal responsibility for the outcome of the work
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Obtain regular & trustworthy knowledge of the results of their work
The Job Characteristics Theory
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Levels of core characteristics determine how motivating a job is likely to be
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Motivation Potential Score (MPS) is a predictive index suggesting the motivation potential in
a job
MPS = (SV + TS + TI)/3 X Auton X Fdbk
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Even if one of the 3 multiplied term is zero, MPS will be zero (no motivation)
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Growth Need Strength moderates the dimension- outcome relationship